(Illustration: Sam Shannon)
There are only three fully accessible accommodations within the Town of Lunenburg limits – a fact Gale Fullerton, Manager of the Lunenburg Yacht Club, found out while booking rooms for the upcoming Mobility Cup.
Scheduled to take place from August 26-30, the Lunenburg Yacht Club will serve as the host venue for the 2024 Mobility Cup, an esteemed international sailing regatta catering to athletes with disabilities.
Forty participants are expected to navigate the waters of Mahone Bay, contending for top honours in a fiercely competitive event.
Fullerton says the club is learning a lot as first time hosts of the regatta.
“We’ve been working on this for 15 months. We applied to host this regatta in December 2022. We were awarded the event a couple months after. I immediately started calling around to see what our accommodation prospects were and ground transportation prospects were.”
Unlike the other regattas hosted by the club, the Mobility Cup also requires the host to support athletes prior to and during their stay. This means Fullerton and her team have been gathering information on accessible restaurants, cultural sites, transportation and more.
The official website of the cup acknowledges, “As a historic town, Lunenburg faces limitations in public accessibility due to architectural constraints on heritage properties and geographical factors.”
Fullerton remains optimistic that this summer’s event will pave the way for future inclusive and globally recognized competitions.
“It positions us to create a legacy from this event of accessibility… In a maritime community that is celebrated for its big sailboat, the opportunity for the little boats to come and compete in this area is an excellent one,” she says.
From sponsorship to billeting athletes, there are lots of ways town can get involved in the preparations for this event. Further details regarding the opening ceremonies and race schedules will be accessible via www.mobilitycup.com.
Awesome work. Well Done.
You left out an important part of the story. Who are the three accommodations that are accessible?
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